Make India Asbestos Free

Journal of Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI). Asbestos Free India campaign of BANI is inspired by trade union leader Purnendu Majumadar. It has been working for last 17 years. It works with peoples movements, doctors, researchers and activists besides trade unions, human rights, environmental, consumer and public health groups. BANI demands criminal liability for companies and medico-legal remedy for victims. For Details: krishnagreen@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Immoral exports

April 21, 2009

For too long the federal government, to its shame, has denied and avoidedevidence about the dangers of chrysotile asbestos, a product that Canadamines and exports around the world.

The new release of a Health Canada report, documenting as it does a "strongrelationship" between lung cancer and exposure to chrysotile asbestos, meansthe government can rationalize its irresponsible behaviour no longer, andmust finally ban these exports. Canada's reputation as a moral player on theinternational stage is being jeopardized by its willingness to ship asbestosto some of the poorest parts of the world.

As one of the largest exporters of chrysotile asbestos in the world, Canadahas fiercely protected this dying industry, which now supports only about550 jobs in Quebec. Canada's official position has been that chrysoliteasbestos is safer than other asbestos products because it has shorterfibres, and with proper handling and practices is acceptable for use.

A number of experts behind the Health Canada report criticized the"safe-use" idea. One said that it's "misleading" for Canada to suggest thata poor country like India, which receives the bulk of Canada's chrysoliteasbestos, will find a way to use it more safely than it has been used in thewealthy West.

In 2006, Canada had a particular shameful moment when it led a group ofcountries that blocked the naming of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardouschemical in the Rotterdam Convention. The inclusion of this product wouldnot have banned sales but would have required exporting countries to provideinformation to importing countries about the dangers of the stuff.

Moreover, not only has Canada taken a lead in blocking international effortsto make the use of chrysotile asbestos safer but the government has stalledon making public its own expert report on the subject.

The report, commissioned by Health Canada, was completed more than a yearago yet was only made public this month by Canwest News Service, which hadwaited 10 months -- yes, 10 months -- for a response to an Access toInformation request. Indeed, the British chair of the panel that wrote thereport had accused the Canadian government of "misusing science" and, infailing to make the report public, of practicing "needless governmentsecrecy."

Ultimately, the debate about whether one form of asbestos is more likely tocause certain types of cancer than others is not the point. It's sufficientthat the newly-released study shows that exposure to chrysotile asbestos isnot safe. As panellist Leslie Stayner, director of epidemiology andbiostatistics at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, put it:"The fundamental question of whether it's hazardous or not is clear. I thinkthe answer to that is, yes, chrysotile is a hazardous substance."

Canada's willingness to peddle asbestos to the world's most vulnerablepopulations, all for the sake of a few dollars in Quebec, is a long-standingdisgrace. The current federal government is notorious for its ability todismiss empirical data and the counsel of scientific experts, but perhapsthe Health Canada report will be one study that even this government will betoo embarrassed to ignore.

Health Matters

Ban on Asbestos is a Must

A study in a peer-reviewed journal had earlier estimated that there could be more than 6,000 workers affected by asbestosis (an untreatable lung ailment) and another 600 suffering at the minimum from asbestosis-related lung cancer in India at present. Occupational cancer from asbestos, the disease caused by emissions at the work place, poses an increasingly serious health problem. But the subject has attracted relatively little attention from industry, labour, public health bodies or the medical profession. Asbestos is one of the single largest sources of occupational cancer. Indian polticians are acting as if they are bonded workers of asbestos industry.

World Trade Center, New York collapsed Thousands of tons of asbestos became airborne.

Back in 1981, there was research coming out that Asbestos was cancer causing and this ad was in rebuttal to that research touting the benefits of using Asbestos. The text over the Twin Towers states, "When the Fire Alarm Went Off, It Took Two Hours to Evacuate New York's World Trade Center." I do not need to remind anyone of the images of September 11th and this ad. The copy below the ad goes on to mention all of the places that Asbestos was used in the World Trade Center. I can not not think of all of the innocent victims in the area that were exposed to all of the dust, smoke and inherent asbestos that was in the air after the buildings collapsed. The cloud of smoke went across the entire city and potentially exposed hundreds of thousands of individuals to asbestos. Hopefully there can be a cure or treatment for Mesothelioma before all of these potential victims are diagnosed.

Ban Use of Asbestos Products

Apex Court allocates meagre compensation for asbetsos victims

In 1995, the Supreme Court of India fixed Rs 1 lakh compensation amount and identified National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) as the final authority to certify asbestosis cases. Compensations are given through the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). Two workers in Ahmedabad Electricity Company diagnosed as having asbestosis by NIOH have been compensated by Gujarat High Court. Twenty-five workers in asbestos jointing and packing industry at Mumbai were compensated by the Special medical board of ESIC. The court ruled that the industrial units must maintain a health record of every worker up to a minimum period of 40 years; insure workers under the Employees State Insurance Act or Workmen’s Compensation Act and give health coverage to every worker.

Asbestos Victims

Every day estimated 30 deaths in India is under way due to the ongoing trade and use of white asbestos. 'Asbestos' in Greek means 'indestructible'. Greeks called asbestos the 'magic mineral'. Asbestos is a generic term, referring usually to six kinds of naturally occuring mineral fibres. Of these six, three are used more commonly. Chrysotile is the most common, accounts for almost 90 per cent of the asbestos used in the industry, but it is not unusual to encounter Amosite or Crocidolite as well. Though Crocidolite asbestos is banned in India, it can still be found in old insulation material, old ships that come from other countries for wrecking in India. All types of asbestos tend to break into very tiny fibre, almost microscopic. In fact, some of them may be up to 700 times smaller than human hair. Because of their small size, once released into the air, they may stay suspended in the air for hours or even days. Asbestos fibres are virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they do not break down over time. Because of its high durability and with tensile strength asbestos has been widely used inconstruction and insulation materials - it has been used in over 3,000 different products. Where do we use it? In India, asbestos is used in manufacture of pressure and non pressure pipes used for water supply, sewage, irrigation and drainage system in urban and rural areas, asbestos textiles, laminated products, tape, gland packing, packing ropes, brake lining and jointing used in core sector industries such as automobile, heavy equipment, petro-chemicals, nuclear power plants, fertilizers, thermal power plants, transportation, defence.

Vladimir Putin government set up a panel of experts to give an opinion on a possible Russian asbestos ban. The panel’s report gave an impassioned defence of asbestos use. Dr Izmerov gave a presentation on "Chrysotile. Russian Experience in Occupational Health" at the International Conference on Chrysotile in Montreal during May 23 - 24, 2006. Russia exported 152, 820 MT of chrysotile asbestos to India in 2006.